2012-Cecilia Laschi-Soft Robot Arm Inspired by The Octopus

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Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the

Octopus
a b c
Cecilia Laschi , Matteo Cianchetti , Barbara Mazzolai
d e f
, Laura Margheri , Maurizio Follador & Paolo Dario
a
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (Pisa), Italy;,
Email: cecilia.laschi@sssup.it
b
Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
c
Center for Micro-BioRobotics of IIT@SSSA, Istituto
Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34,
56025 Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
d
e
f
Published online: 13 Apr 2012.
To cite this article: Cecilia Laschi , Matteo Cianchetti , Barbara Mazzolai , Laura
Margheri , Maurizio Follador & Paolo Dario (2012) Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the Octopus,
Advanced Robotics, 26:7, 709-727, DOI: 10.1163/156855312X626343
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156855312X626343
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Advanced Robotics 26 (2012) 709–727
brill.nl/ar
Full paper
Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the Octopus
Cecilia Laschi a,∗ , Matteo Cianchetti a , Barbara Mazzolai b , Laura Margheri a ,

Maurizio Follador a and Paolo Dario a
a
The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34,
56025 Pontedera (Pisa), Italy
b
Center for Micro-BioRobotics of IIT@SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT),
Received 20 September 2011; accepted 4 October 2011
Abstract
The octopus is a marine animal whose body has no rigid structures. It has eight arms composed of a pe-
culiar muscular structure, named a muscular hydrostat. The octopus arms provide it with both locomotion
and grasping capabilities, thanks to the fact that their stiffness can change over a wide range and can be
controlled through combined contractions of the muscles. The muscular hydrostat can better be seen as a
modifiable skeleton. Furthermore, the morphology the arms and the mechanical characteristics of their tis-
sues are such that the interaction with the environment (i.e., water) is exploited to simplify control. Thanks
to this effective mechanism of embodied intelligence, the octopus can control a very high number of degrees
of freedom, with relatively limited computing resources. From these considerations, the octopus emerges as
a good model for embodied intelligence and for soft robotics. The prototype of a robot arm has been built
based on an artificial muscular hydrostat inspired to the muscular hydrostat of the Octopus vulgaris. The
prototype presents the morphology of the biological model and the broad arrangement of longitudinal and
transverse muscles. Actuation is obtained with cables (longitudinally) and with shape memory alloy springs
(transversally). The robot arm combines contractions and it can show the basic movements of the octopus
arm, like elongation, shortening and bending, in water.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2012
Keywords
Octopus, muscular hydrostats, shape memory alloy, soft robot
1. Introduction
The octopus is an invertebrate marine animal (phylum: Mollusca; class: Cephalo-
poda), whose body has no rigid structures. Thanks to this, the octopus can adapt the
shape of its body to the environment and its whole body can be squeezed into very
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cecilia.laschi@sssup.it
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2012 DOI:10.1163/156855312X626343
710 C. Laschi et al. / Advanced Robotics 26 (2012) 709–727
small apertures, limited only by the size of its brain capsule. The octopus has eight
arms that can twist, change their length and bend in all directions at any point along
their length. Despite the lack of rigid skeletal support, the eight arms are effectively
used to obtain locomotion on the diverse substrates of the sea bottom, and to reach,
grasp and even manipulate objects with unexpected dexterity.
Owing to these features, the octopus arm has sometimes been a source of inspi-
ration in robotics, basically for the development of hyper-redundant robot manipu-
lators [1].
The octopus arms are composed of a peculiar muscular structure, named a mus-
cular hydrostat [2]. The arrangement of muscles in the muscular hydrostat is such
that combined contractions of different muscles can control the variation of the
stiffness of the arms, to achieve relatively high values and to apply relatively high
forces [3].
The control of this large number of degrees of freedom in the octopus is highly
distributed and it is simplified by the use of stereotyped movements. Moreover, the
morphology of the arms and the mechanical characteristics of their tissues are such
that the interaction with the environment (i.e., water), is exploited to simplify con-
trol. The octopus represents a biological demonstration of how effective behavior
in the real world is tightly related to the morphology of the body. It stands as a good
example of embodied intelligence, whose principles derive from the observation, in
nature, that adaptive behavior emerges from the complex and dynamic interaction
between the body morphology, sensory–motor control and environment [4]. This
principle has been adopted in a wide range of current approaches to the develop-
ment of robots [5]. Thanks to this effective mechanism of embodied intelligence,
the octopus can control its high number of degrees of freedom with relatively lim-
ited computing resources.
From these considerations, the octopus emerges as a good model for embodied
intelligence and for soft robotics. This paper presents the design of an artificial
muscular hydrostat and the development of a robot arm prototype based on the
muscular hydrostat principle, working in water.
2. Muscular Hydrostats
In the arms of the octopus, muscles are organized into transverse, longitudinal and
obliquely orientated groups [6, 7], as illustrated in Fig. 1. This special muscular
organization forms the structures called muscular hydrostats, whose main prop-
erty is that their volume is constant during muscle contractions [2]. The result is
that if the diameter of a muscular hydrostat decreases, its length increases and vice
versa. Elongation of a portion of the arm is obtained by contraction of the transverse
muscles, because their arrangement decreases the cross-sectional area. In contrast,
shortening of the arm results from the contraction of the longitudinal muscles. Tor-
sion of the arm results from contraction of the oblique muscles. Bending of the
arm can be obtained by contraction of longitudinal muscles on one side of the arm
C. Laschi et al. / Advanced Robotics 26 (2012) 709–727 711
(a) (b)
Figure 1. (a) Scheme of the muscle arrangement in the octopus muscular hydrostats (figure by Vir-
gilio Mattoli, 2008): four main longitudinal muscles (L) are arranged along the arm length; transverse
muscles (T) are arranged in a radial configuration, along four arcs connecting the external connective
tissue with the central channel, containing nervous fibers (N), with fibers interspersed within the longi-
tudinal muscles; oblique muscles (O) wrap the whole muscular structure with an orientation between
50° and 60°. (b) Histological transverse section of octopus arm, showing the longitudinal muscles (L),
the transverse muscles (T), the central nervous fibers (N) and the oblique muscles (O).
and, simultaneously, by contraction of the transverse muscle in order to resist the

longitudinal compression forces caused by contraction of the longitudinal muscles
[2]. The transverse and longitudinal muscles can be considered to have a reciprocal
antagonistic action, enabling the muscular system to serve as a modifiable skeleton,
essential for the transformation of force into movement, with the possibility of both
right- and left-handed direction of twist.
3. Specifications for the Robot Arm from Measurements of the Octopus

Muscular Hydrostat
The specifications for the performance and the design of the actuators and the struc-
ture of the robotic arm have been derived from in vivo measurement of octopus
biomechanics and analysis of arm morphology.
Results from direct measurements of octopus elongation showed a mean elon-
gation of 70% of the arms, with a 23% of diameter reduction at the base [8–10].
Consequently, the value of 20% has been set as the specification for the transverse
actuators of the artificial muscular structure.
Measurements of the muscular fiber lengths and areas in vivo were obtained
from sonographic examination of the octopus arms [11]. Ultrasound imaging al-
lows a non-invasive study of the internal morphology under natural conditions and
real proportions, with accuracy and repeatability. Thus, the method overcomes the
drawbacks of more invasive techniques and helps in the study of structure roles.
The analysis was also carried out for the nervous tissues, showing that the nerve
cord in the inner part of the arm has a sinusoidal arrangement, which allows arm
elongation and preserves the nerve cord from stretching (Fig. 2a).
The conical shape of the robot arm is specified by the morphology of the octopus
arm, as analyzed by histological techniques. In Ref. [12], 10 animals were tested
(a) (b)
Figure 2. Helicoidal arrangement of the octopus nerve cord (a) and of the robot arm wires (b).
for morphological characterization (around 400 measurements from each animal).

With statistical methods the decrement ratio of the diameter along the arm length
has been identified as 6% [12].
Histological analysis also shows the arrangement of the fibers of the connective
tissue, which is considered for designing the robot arm structure. The octopus has
a braided net of connective tissue fibers to which the muscles are attached [7]. The
connective tissue is described as composed of fibers oriented at about 68–75° with
respect to the longitudinal axis of the arm. Its role in the biomechanics of the arm is
not completely clear, but it is likely mainly for containment and support purposes,
as well as for providing stable insertion points.
4. Design of an Artificial Muscular Hydrostat

The basic principles of the smart muscle arrangement of the octopus arm are ap-
plied to the design of a robot arm working in water [13]. The key principle of the
biological muscular hydrostat taken as inspiration is the arrangement of longitudi-
nal and transverse muscles on normal planes. The main advantage is that this smart
muscular structure simplifies some of the movements of the octopus arm, and re-
duces the complexity of the required mechanisms and actuators, as some of the
muscle deformations are in fact passive (i.e., the elongation of longitudinal muscles
by transverse contractions).
The artificial muscular hydrostat unit is based on four longitudinal actuating el-
ements (L in Fig. 3), representing the four longitudinal muscle bundles, and a layer
of actuators radially arranged (T in Fig. 3), representing the transverse muscles.
The actuators are mechanically fixed to a support structure (S in Fig. 3), whose
design derives again from the biological model and specifically from the arrange-
ment of the fibers of the connective tissue [7]. The mechanical properties should
allow the high deformations expected from the arm, presenting high flexibility and
preserving the arm motion capabilities. A central channel in every unit is available
for electric wires (W in Fig. 3), in analogy with the nerve chord channel in the
octopus arm.
Figure 3. Schematic design of the artificial muscular hydrostats with four longitudinal actuators (L),
a number of transverse actuators (T), the support structure (S) and the central wires (W).
5. Prototype of an Octopus-Like Robot Arm

The octopus-like robot arm is based on a series of artificial muscular hydrostat units,
having a conical shape with progression of geometrical parameters analogous to the
biological model. Each component and their integration in the arm are described in
the following subsections.
5.1. Longitudinal Actuators
Four longitudinal artificial muscles made of UHMWPE synthetic fibers run along
the arm length, in an up/down/right/left arrangement [14].
The parameters of the cables have been set on the basis of the values of force
applied by an octopus arm, as measured experimentally and reported in Section 3.
A model is presented in Ref. [15] of the deformations given by longitudinal cables
on a compliant (silicone) cylindrical body. Specifically, two models describe the
shortening and bending, with validation on purposive experimental platforms.
5.2. Transverse Actuators
The transverse muscles have been designed as radially arranged layers of actua-
tors. The number of actuators for each layer and the number of layers determines
the resolution of the arm movements. One of the main consequences is the dis-
cretization of the system with respect to the continuity that the biological model
can implement. The most evident effect is ‘barreling’, both in longitudinal (propor-
tional to the distance between layers) and in transverse (proportional to the distance
between actuators) directions. Shape memory alloy (SMA) technology has been
used for the development of active springs, as transverse actuators, able to contract
when electrically activated. The choice of this kind of technology fits well with our
specifications, in particular in terms of light weight, flexibility, work density, and
possibility of miniaturization and customization. On the other side, the use of SMAs
is often affected by the presence of several drawbacks, like low strain achievable,
high current need and nonlinear behavior (low controllability), but in the present ap-
plication some strategies have been developed to overcome or to limit these effects.
SMAs cannot reach a very large deformation when used in a straight shape (5–8%
maximum), but when forged in a spiral shape they can reach more than 300% of de-
formation. Moreover, an optimized cooling system allowed the optimization of the
working cycles (1.5 s for a heating and cooling cycle). Finally, low controllability
issues have been solved using an all-or-nothing activation strategy and exploiting
the antagonistic effect of the longitudinal cables.
On the basis of the mechanical properties of the alloys and on spring theory,
a semiempirical model has been developed to design the optimal shape of the
SMA springs with respect to the force specifications, which resulted in a helicoidal
shape. The choice of the geometrical parameters has been made on the basis of
an algorithm for the calculation of the force exerted by the springs in all possible
configurations and characteristics. Inputs for this algorithm are the wire diameter,
spring diameter, number of coils and position inside the arm. All results are sorted
in force or stroke order, to allow the choice of the spring that best suits the spec-
ifications. Figure 4 shows an example of visualization of the spring configuration

inside the arm.
A radial contraction of 20% has been used to set the target for the spring perfor-
mances from the measurements in the octopus (see Section 3), leading to the choice
of specific heat treatments and of the following parameters:
• Wire diameter: 200 µm.
• Internal spring diameter: 1 mm.
• Number of coils: 6–10 (depending on the position along the arm length).
• Spring index: 6.
The resulting springs present a stiffness that ranges from 0.10–0.24 N/mm when
inactive (depending on the position along the arm length) to 0.24–0.6 N/mm when
electrically activated. The springs are subjected to a current of 1.2 A that guarantees
Figure 4. Visualization of the results for the design of the spring characteristics and their configuration
inside the arm. Numerical values on the axes are expressed in millimeters. The outer curve represents
the external arm surface, the inner curve represents the rigid link that connects all the springs, the
dashed black line identifies the position of the springs and the solid black line identifies the external
spring profile.
(a) (b)
Figure 5. (a) Echographic image of the octopus arm on the transverse plane, showing the arrangement
of transverse fibers and trabeculae. (b) Arrangement of transverse actuators in the artificial muscular
hydrostat.
the complete activation of the springs and the maximum deliverable force. At this
stage the springs follow an on/off activation control and thus there are no intermedi-
ate values of force achievable. In terms of performance this means that each single
SMA module always produces the same effect, but the position and the number of
activated modules determine the behavior of the arm as a whole.
Transverse actuators have then been arranged in a radial configuration (Fig. 5b)
to achieve the most efficient mechanism in diameter reduction and to obtain large
passive elongations, in analogy with the biological model (Fig. 5a).
To reduce the electric power consumption, a 50-µm PTFE sheath was used to
cover the SMA wires. This cover minimizes the heat dissipation during heating,
without increasing the cooling time.
The thermodynamic behavior of the SMA has been described by a finite element
model that was used for dimensioning the current required for activation. The same
model was then used for calculating the heat transfer coefficient between the wire
and the surrounding environment; in this way, the external sheath was appropriately
dimensioned.
The number of modules needed to obtain a homogeneous radial contraction of
the arm was found experimentally, maximizing the distance between the modules.
The minimum number of actuators was employed to reduce the power consumption
whilst maintaining contraction, and thus arm elongation properties. Twelve SMA
spring transverse modules have been built. Every module consists of eight springs
manufactured using the same continuous SMA wire and thus they are electrically
in series (decreasing the number of wires required). The space among them is the
result of a precise calculation aimed at maximizing the spring performance and
minimizing the total wire length (and consequently the power consumption). The
SMA spring series is then fixed on a ring that maintains the radial arrangement
of the module and leaves a central circular channel where electrical wires will be
lodged.
In order to keep the number of electrical wires required for the activation of the
SMA springs low, one wire is in common for all the modules and one wire for each
Figure 6. Example of SMA spring transverse module in free contracted position.

module for closing the circuits. With regard to the fabrication of the actuators and
the integration of the actuators in the arm, the goal was to minimize the stiffening
of the final artifact due to the electric cables. For these purposes the cables cho-
sen are very thin enameled copper wires, crimped together with the SMA spring
extremities. The resulting elements are shown in Fig. 6.
The wiring of the modules follows a sinusoidal arrangement (as specified in Sec-
tion 3) that leaves complete freedom of movement during elongation (see Fig. 2b).
5.3. Robot Arm Support Structure
The robot arm support structure consists of a braided sleeve. It not only provides
perfect mechanical support and containment functions, but it generates passive
elongation by diameter reduction. The design of the sleeve is based on a study
of how the geometry and the material influence the passive properties of the entire
structure.
In the literature there are several works on the characterization of braided and
woven textile from a mechanical view point, but the approach tends to take into
account their use as fillers and thus they are finalized to the prediction of the me-
chanical properties of the resulting composite structure [16–18].
For our purposes, the main features to study regard the elongation capability
(to obtain the best performance) and the propagation of the local deformations (to
prevent the barreling effect).
We developed an analytical model and a finite element method (FEM) simulation
for this study. The first one uses a simplified version of the geometry of common
braided sleeves and its aim is to envisage the optimal elongation performances; the
FEM analysis, on the contrary, takes into consideration all the physical quantities,
and it gives more accurate information about the required forces and the longitudi-
nal effect of the radial compression.
Available analytical models usually used to describe the quantitative behavior of
the braid are based on the fact that braided wires cannot be stretched. Moreover, the
symmetry of the structure allows the study of one single cell fiber without loss of
generality [19]. In the case of a cone, the dissertation is more complex, due to the
diameter change in the vertical direction. The aim of this model is to express the
shape change starting from the variation of one of the main parameters.
Figure 7. Three steps of the model (from top-left): the truncated cone with one fiber is transformed
into a complete cone; the added tip and the first turn of the fiber are developed in a flat pattern (not in
scale) and the fiber’s path is divided into sectors and concentric arcs; every sector is studied to find a
relation between the braid angle and all the other geometrical parameters.
In the case of the cone, the flat development of the solid shape is a sector of an
annulus and it can be studied by dividing it into smaller parts (elementary parts).
The model can be divided into three parts: in the first part the truncated cone is
transformed in a complete cone with the same larger base; then the cone is devel-
oped in a flat pattern; finally, the cone development is divided into radial sectors
and longitudinal arcs (Fig. 7).
From geometrical considerations it is possible to derive the dependencies among
α, θ and R of Fig. 7, and the height of the structure, thus describing the shape
change of the structure. Moreover, they can be used in the Cartesian analytical de-
scription of a conical spiral to visualize the elongation performances of the braid
(Fig. 8).
The analytical model of the conical braid takes into account neither the un-
dulation nor the barreling effects, but it envisages the best performances of the
structure. It describes the ideal situation where the entire structure is deformed ho-
mogeneously. In a real case, the effect of the local deformation propagates along
the arm for a limited space. A more realistic scenario considers a more complex
geometry, as well as the interaction among the fibers. To this purpose a FEM analy-
sis software (MARC Mentat 2010; MSC Software) has been used to reproduce the
physics of the system, considering both geometric quantities (like type of braiding,
sinusoidal fiber path, fiber thickness and cross-section) and material properties (like
Young modulus, Poisson coefficient and friction). A small part of the braided sleeve
has been virtually reconstructed and all the mechanical properties of the material
have been set. The geometry shown in Fig. 9 has been used for the simulation. It
Figure 8. Example of elongating cone described by the analytical model, where the variation of the
base radius is imposed and the elongation is calculated.
Figure 9. Sample of braided sleeve virtually reconstructed for FEM analysis.
has 48 fibers (24 right-handed and 24 left-handed), the same braiding architecture
and octopus arm proportions.
Since the behavior of the braid is completely independent from the device that
generates its deformations, the issues regarding the actuators are decoupled from
the interface used and this allows simulating the effect of the SMA springs on the
structure with four local radial forces. Such forces have been applied incrementally
until the 20% of radial reduction has been reached (which is our goal).
For the analytical model, two kinds of tests have been carried out: one using a
braid that shows a negligible barreling effect to validate the goodness of the model
and one using the braid with the thinnest fibers to evaluate the limitations of the
model when barreling becomes more evident.
For the FEM simulation, samples of 60 mm have been virtually replicated. Four
forces (simulating the effect of eight coupled SMA springs) have been applied radi-
ally. The resulting elongation has been evaluated and compared with experimental
tests.
The experimental validation of the analytical model revealed a very good agree-
ment with theoretical data (lying inside an error that ranges between 0.2 and 1.4%
due to the manual measurements of the final braid length) when a thick-fiber braid is
used; however, as expected, it becomes inadequate (more than 27% of error) when
a thin-fiber braid is used or when the longitudinal distance among the actuators
positions becomes too high. In this case the barelling effect becomes too evident.
Thus, on the other hand, this underlines the necessity of a model that is able to take
into account this effect; on the other hand, one can think of increasing the number
of actuators to avoid this effect. This could fix the problem, but in the meantime it
also increases the power needs and the number of required electrical cables. Thus,
the solution is a trade-off among fiber thickness (to increase the longitudinal prop-
agation of the diameter reduction), number of transverse modules (the higher, the
better) and distance among them (the lower, the better). In order to try to describe
in more detail the barelling effect and quantitatively characterize the phenomenon,
the FEM model and the experimental results have been compared. An example is
shown in Fig. 10. The local reduction of the diameter causes an elongation of the
structure in a way that is consistent with the FEM results: the circular shape is main-
tained, and the diameter reduction has a maximum elongation effect at the center
of the structure, and decreases upwards and downwards (Fig. 10). Quantitatively
the FEM model can predict the elongation capabilities of the real braid with an er-
ror lower than 3%. At the integration stage this effect has been taken into account
by setting a distance among the transverse modules that guarantees an overlapping
action among them.
Results demonstrate that inside the explained limitations both the models show
a good matching with experimental results. Thus, the analytical model can be used
Figure 10. Example of a braid sample subjected to the barelling effect: the FEM model is able to
predict the limited longitudinal propagation of the diameter reduction (vertical bar indicates the radial
displacement values).
to envisage the elongation performances when thick fibers are used and the FEM
simulations can be used in case the barreling effect is more evident (thin fibers).
Moreover, the FEM can be used to estimate the force necessary to obtain the desired
deformations and can be used to design the SMA springs.
5.4. Integration of the Octopus-Like Robot Arm
The chain of 12 modules of eight SMA springs (see Fig. 2b), together with the
electric wires, is inserted in the conical braid and fixed to its yarns. Once put in
place inside the braid, each SMA spring is tied to a yarn crossing in order to create
a stable connection without limiting the relative rotation of the yarns during the
deformation of the braid.

The longitudinal cables are arranged along the whole structure, starting from the
base to the end of the braid. One end of the four cables has been fixed directly to the
distal part of the braid and the other one is let free to go out from the base. Inside
the braid they are placed close to the fibers to maximize the bending capability. To
prevent the possibility that cables interfere with SMA springs during contractions,
some loops of nylon yarn are used to maintain the cables close to the braid. Even
if the loops are not the only solution for this issue and for sure not the most ele-
gant, they guarantee that cables remain in this delocalized position with respect to
the springs and present a very low friction. Thus, the relative movements between
the cables and the braid do not present resistant forces that could negatively affect
the performances of the structure.
For manufacturing reasons, the braid cannot cover the entire length needed for
building the complete arm. The distal part of the braid does not have the right size
for the tip of the robot arm, as its diameter is still too large with respect to the
proportion of the natural arm. A 120-mm silicone cone has been added as an arm
tip. Even if it has no active roles, it allows us to reach the right proportions and
helps in reproducing a more natural movement, also considering that the very distal
part of the arm is used in a passive way by the animal, too, in reaching and grasping
tasks [8].
The arm base is inserted on a cylindrical rigid structure that, on the one hand,
has a ring that can lodge the base of the braid and, on the other hand, has four
small holes where the longitudinal cables pass and one large central hole where the
electric wires pass. The resulting structure is shown in Fig. 11.
6. Experimental Results
In order to characterize the performances of the arm, different kinds of tests have
been carried out in water. The three main movements have been analyzed sepa-
rately: bending, shortening and elongation. A global bending in each direction can
be obtained by pulling a single longitudinal actuator or a combination of two actu-
ators (e.g., retroflection is obtained by activating the upper longitudinal actuator).
Pulling all the cables at the same time causes the shortening of the arm and restores
(a) (b)
Figure 11. Octopus-like robot arm prototype in water: (a) at rest and (b) wrapping a human hand.
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)
Figure 12. (a) Shortening and elongation. (b) Recovery of initial position after retroflection by lon-
gitudinal actuator activation. (c) Recovery of initial position after retroflection by transversal actuator
activation. (d) Bending in the four main directions. (e) Increase of curvature by contraction of trans-
verse actuators. (f) Schematic representation of the actuator positions.
the straight shape if the arm is bent. SMA actuators are used to elongate the arm
or to increase its stiffness if longitudinal actuators are simultaneously activated and
used as antagonistic actuators. Restoring the straight shape is possible also with this
method. When a single longitudinal cable is pulled and the SMA actuators are ac-
tivated, bending is increased because the actuated cable avoids the arm elongating
linearly.
In the experimental trials, the main movements have been produced according to
the following protocol (Fig. 12):
• Elongation is produced by contracting all the transversal actuators.
• Shortening is produced by pulling the four longitudinal cables of 30 mm.
Table 1.
Characterization of the robotic arm
Elongation
maximum 35 mm (13%)
speed 8.7 mm/s
time for maximum extension 4s
diameter reduction
spring 1 12%
spring 2 10%
spring 3 8%
Shortening
maximum 30 mm (10%)
diameter increase
spring 1 7%
spring 2 3%
spring 3 2%
Global bending
radius of curvature 63 mm
recovery time by longitudinal actuation 4s
recovery time by transversal actuation 6s
Equivalent flexural stiffness
flexural stiffness 0.01 N/mm
• Global bending is obtained by pulling one single cable of 75 mm.

• Recovery of the straight position can be obtained by pulling the four cables or
activating all the transversal actuators.
• Flexural stiffness is measured by applying a load to the arm between two con-
straints positioned at 60 and 180 mm from the arm base.
All the results are collected in Table 1.
Elongation is a measure of the transverse actuator performances: the mechan-
ics of the braided structure forces the elongation of the arm when its diameter is
decreased by the activation of SMA springs. Characterization involves diameter
reduction, speed of elongation and maximum elongation reached.
The shortening depends on the action of all the longitudinal actuators together:
maximum shortening and diameter augmentation has been measured.
Dynamics of bending has been recorded during retroflection movements and the
tip has been tracked. The middle line of the arm has been tracked for four condi-
tions: initial, final and two intermediate positions during movements (Fig. 13), and
the maximum curvature has been derived from the last frame.
Passive properties have been described as the time taken by the arm to return to
the initial position from the retroflexed position.
Figure 13. Tracking of tip and backbone of the arm during retroflection. Arcs represent the backbone
of the arm at four moments of the movement. The outer curve is the trajectory of the tip, while markers
are the tip position tracked every 500 ms.
Finally, the stiffness of the arm has been considered as the ratio between a weight
loaded at a certain position between two constraints and the resultant deflection of
the arm.
The results listed in Table 1 are under the target expected, mainly regarding elon-
gation and speed. The performances of the reduction diameter and, consequently,
also the elongation are under the design expectations mainly for manufacturing
issues. The manual fabrication of the springs introduces small errors in the geomet-
rical dimensions of the springs and in the passive wire length between two adjacent
springs. The performances of the actuators are very sensitive to these geometrical
parameters and thus they are consequently under expectation. In order to exclude
any other error deriving from the model, a supplementary test has been carried
out. Even if the model has been already validated, the numerical experimental re-
sults listed in Table 1 have been used in the model to predict the elongation of the
structure under such conditions. The resulting elongation is 33 mm (against 35 mm
measured), which confirms the model goodness and suggests that a reduction of
20% in the diameter would ideally lead to 89% elongation.
However, slow elongation speed is partially due to intrinsic friction of the struc-
ture, and the load and inertia that has to be opposed to reach the maximum exten-
sion. To solve this issue, oversizing the force exerted by the springs is taken into
account after an experimental investigation. In this way, resistant forces of the arm
become less influential on the elongation dynamics and do not decrease the move-
ment speed.
7. Conclusions
This paper presents the first prototype of an octopus-inspired robot arm, reproduc-
ing the basic mechanism of the biological muscular hydrostat.
The robot arm demonstrates the octopus muscular hydrostat principle by pos-
sessing the key elements, such as longitudinal and transverse contractions, external
mechanical support structure allowing large deformations but keeping the shape
and sinusoidal arrangement of internal fibers.
The prototype presented in this paper is completely soft and compliant when
relaxed, with the possibility of bending in all directions at any point along the arm,
of stiffening and of elongating.

The longitudinal actuators produce bending along four main directions, reaching
a radius of curvature of 63 mm. When actuated simultaneously, they produce a
shortening of 10% and a diameter increase of 7%.
The transverse actuators produce diameter reductions and consequently an elon-
gation of 13%, with a relation between elongation and diameter reduction corre-
sponding to the model of the braid deformation, coherent with the deformation
mechanism of the muscular hydrostat.
Even though the current prototype, built with the current manual manufacturing
process, does not match the values of elongation of the octopus arm, it demonstrates
the validity of the muscular hydrostat concept. It demonstrates that it is possible to
reproduce the key mechanism of the muscular hydrostat with robotics technologies,
and that it is possible to obtain a completely soft and compliant robot arm, with good
dexterity.
This same prototype is being improved with more accurate manufacturing to
achieve better performance in terms of contraction range and time, but it provides
principles and it opens up perspectives for the development of soft robots, even with
different technologies.
In conclusion, this work represents an example of biomimetics (i.e., of effective
translation of biology into robotics) because it applies the key principles of the
biological model and it demonstrates a concept of general applicability.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the European Commission in the ICT-FET OCTOPUS
Integrating Project, under contract 231608.
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About the Authors

Cecilia Laschi is Associate Professor of Biorobotics at the Scuola Superiore San-
t’Anna in Pisa, Italy, at the BioRobotics Institute. She graduated in Computer
Science from the University of Pisa, in 1993, and received the PhD in Robotics
from the University of Genoa, in 1998. In 2001–2002, she was a JSPS Visiting
Researcher at Waseda University, Tokyo. Her research interests are in the field of
biorobotics, and she is currently working on humanoid and biomimetic robotics.
She has been and currently is involved in many National and EU-funded projects.
She has authored/coauthored more than 40 papers on ISI journals, she has been
Guest Co-Editor of Special Issues of Autonomous Robots, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Applied
Bionics and Biomechanics, and Advanced Robotics. She is on the Editorial Board of Bioinspiration
& Biomimetics, Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, and Advanced Robotics. She is a member of the
IEEE, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, and Robotics and Automation Society, where
she serves as an AdCom Member.
Matteo Cianchetti is a Postdoc Researcher at the BioRobotics Institute of the

Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. He received his Master’s Degree in Biomedical En-
gineering (with Honors) from the University of Pisa, in 2007, and received the
PhD in Biorobotics (with Honors) at the BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Su-
periore Sant’Anna. He is currently involved in the OCTOPUS Integrating Project
(FP7, ICT-FET, contract number 231608). His research is focused on bioinspired

robotics, and, in particular, on technologies for soft robotics, artificial muscles
and bioinspired design. He is Member of the IEEE, and Robotics and Automation
Society.
Barbara Mazzolai has been the Director of the Center for Micro-BioRobotics
(IIT@SSSA) of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) of Genoa, Italy. She grad-
uated (MS) in Biology (with Honours) from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1995,
and received the PhD in Microsystems Engineering from the University of Rome
Tor Vergata. From 1994 to 1998, she worked at the Institute of Biophysics of the
National Research Council in Pisa on environmental topics. In 1998, she received
a Postgraduate Master’s Degree in Eco-Management and Audit Schemes (EMAS)
organized by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Pisa, Italy. From 1999 to
2004, she had a Research Assistant position at the Center for Research in Microengineering (CRIM
Lab, now the BioRobotics Institute) of SSSA. She worked mainly on service robotics and sensory-
system solutions for environmental and agrofood applications. From 2004 to 2009, she was Assistant
Professor in Biomedical Engineering at SSSA. In 2009, she started her collaboration with the IIT
as Team Leader in MicroRobotics. Her current scientific research is in the fields of biorobotics and
biomimetic robotics, focused on studying and understanding mechanisms, sensors, actuation solutions
and locomotion strategies inspired by Nature, especially by creatures in the micro- and meso-scale,
with the aim to design and develop new enabling technologies and solutions in the engineering world.
She has a long experience as Project Manager of European Projects in these fields. She is Member
of the Editorial Board of Applied Bionics and Biomechanics and Micro-Nano Mechatronics Journal.
She was Guest Co-Editor of two Special Issues of Applied Bionics and Biomechanics on ‘Biologically
inspired robots and mechanisms (2 and 3)’. She is Member of the IEEE, Engineering in Medicine and
Biology Society, and Robotics and Automation Society.
Laura Margheri received her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (with

Honours) from the University of Pisa, in 2008. She is currently a PhD candidate
in Biorobotics at the BioRobotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
and she is involved in the OCTOPUS Integrating Project (FP7, ICT-FET, con-
tract number 231608). Her research interests are in the fields of biorobotics,
biomimetics, biology and neuroscience. Her main research activity is focused on
the biomechanical measurement and modeling of biological organisms to identify
key principles from biology, and to properly transfer them into engineering con-
cepts and new technological solutions. She is a Student Member of the IEEE, Engineering in Medical
and Biology Society, and Robotics and Automation Society, where she serves as Chair of the Students
Activities Committee and Student AdCom Member.
Maurizio Follador received his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from

Polytechnic of Turin, in 2009. He is now a PhD student in Micro-BioRobotics at
the Center for Micro-BioRobotics of IIT@SSSA, jointly with Scuola Superiore
Sant’Anna, Pisa. He is involved in the ICT-FET OCTOPUS Integrating Project
(FP7, ICT-FET, contract number 231608). The topic of his research is the design
of actuators to be integrated into soft materials for the realization of a bioinspired
robot.
Paolo Dario received his DE degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Uni-
versity of Pisa, Italy, in 1977. He is currently a Professor of Biomedical Robotics
at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Pisa, where he is the Director of the
BioRobotics Institute. He was the Founder and Coordinator of the ARTS (Ad-
vanced Robotics Technology and Systems) Lab and of the CRIM (Center for the
Research in Microengineering) Lab of SSSA, now merged into the BioRobotics
Institute, where he supervises a team of about 150 researchers and PhD students.
He is the Director of Polo Sant’Anna Valdera, the research park of SSSA. From
2009 to 2011, he served as the Director of the Center for Micro-BioRobotics IIT@SSSA of the Ital-
ian Institute of Technology (IIT). In 2002–2003, he served as President of the IEEE Robotics and
Automation Society. He is IEEE Fellow and recipient of the Joseph Engelberg Award (1996). He is
and has been Visiting Professor at prestigious universities in Italy and abroad, like Brown University,
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Waseda University, University of Tokyo, College
de France and Zheijang University. His main research interests are in the fields of biorobotics, medical
robotics and micro/nanoengineering. He is the coordinator of many national and European projects,
the editor of special issues and books on the subject of biorobotics, and the author of more than 450
scientific papers (150 on ISI journals).

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Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the

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Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the Octopus

Cecilia Laschi a,∗ , Matteo Cianchetti a , Barbara Mazzolai b , Laura Margheri a ,

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cecilia.laschi@sssup.it

and, simultaneously, by contraction of the transverse muscle in order to resist the

3. Specifications for the Robot Arm from Measurements of the Octopus

for morphological characterization (around 400 measurements from each animal).

4. Design of an Artificial Muscular Hydrostat

5. Prototype of an Octopus-Like Robot Arm

ifications. Figure 4 shows an example of visualization of the spring configuration

Figure 6. Example of SMA spring transverse module in free contracted position.

Figure 9. Sample of braided sleeve virtually reconstructed for FEM analysis.

deformation of the braid.

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

• Global bending is obtained by pulling one single cable of 75 mm.

of stiffening and of elongating.

3. B. Hochner, Octopuses, Curr. Biol. 18, R897–R898 (2008).

surements of the octopus arms, J. Shellfish Res. 30, 1012 (2011).

About the Authors

Matteo Cianchetti is a Postdoc Researcher at the BioRobotics Institute of the

(FP7, ICT-FET, contract number 231608). His research is focused on bioinspired

Laura Margheri received her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (with

Maurizio Follador received his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from

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